Jamie Carson says collaboration is key
ANDREW BAILEY
andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca
Icon Developments is celebrating its 20th birthday in style as the company recently received four Vancouver Island Building Excellence Awards, including the coveted ‘Project of the Year.’
The VIBE Awards were presented via an online gala due to the coronavirus pandemic and Icon owner Jamie Carson was thrilled to hear his company honoured with: Best Custom Single Family Home between 3000-4000 sq. ft., Best Single Family Kitchen New under $50,000.00, Best Interior Design Custom Residence New or Renovation and Project of the Year.
“I was so pumped that we had won,” Carson told the Westerly News. “It felt good for sure. It’s great to be acknowledged by your peers.”
Icon’s awards stemmed from a custom built home and Carson attributed much of the project’s success to Jennifer Price-Francis of Tofino’s Nectar Designs.
He touted Price-Francis as a “young, up and coming designer” whom he has collaborated with on about eight homes so far and said working with a local designer of her calibre has been a gift.
“To be able to actually walk the site, look at the landscape of the site, look at the topography of the site and be able to take that visually and then mould the design around that, that’s heaven sent; it’s just so important,” he said.
He added the project was “a huge undertaking” and commended the clients for their trust.
“You know for a fact that you have a good project the day you meet your clients…There was such a trust factor of understanding that Jennifer knew what she was doing and I knew what I was doing,” he said. “The clients were amazing. That’s what got me passionate about this. It was this home and these clients that rekindled my total love and passion for what I do. I had so much fun on this project. It was hard, don’t get me wrong. It was a huge project that took well over a year to complete but, every step of the way, if we didn’t have an answer, we figured it out together. That’s what made it fun, I give Betty and David so much kudos on that relationship and how they made it very enjoyable.”
He added that he has also been building furniture for the home and cited a note he had written in the back of a journal when he launched his business 20 years ago, confirming he’s where he wanted to be.
“At the back was basically my mission statement of where I wanted to be in 15-20 years. I wanted to get to the point where I do it right from the foundation to building furniture for the house. That’s where I always saw myself and it was really neat to find that again and read that and say, ‘OK Jamie, you’re there,’” he said.
“[Clients] are allowing me to be that builder I saw myself being…They’re allowing me to fully harness that vision I had, which has helped me solidify mentally that I have made it to where I wanted to be and this is the only type of building I will do now. I will only do one job at a time to 110 per cent and, hopefully, build furniture and do other things for that home, so I can be very creative. That’s the passion, I love that.”
Along with 20 years in business, Carson said Icon is also celebrating 52 homes built in Ucluelet. He recalled working on projects in Salmon Beach as his first foray into West Coast building about 21 years ago, falling in love with Ucluelet and planting his roots.
“We loved it here so much we never left,” he said. “We just had a good core group of friends and colleagues and the work wouldn’t stop. Once we had made a name for ourselves and the quality of work, we were inundated and it was time to start hiring people…We ended up having children and I couldn’t think of a better place to raise children than on the West Coast in Ucluelet.”